


Flowers grow out of dark moments

by i_dreamthedream



Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Alternate Universe - Flower Shop, Elections Day, First Kiss, Fluff, Hamilton Gift Exchange 2k16, Holiday Fic Exchange, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-19
Updated: 2016-11-19
Packaged: 2018-08-31 19:30:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,470
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8590786
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/i_dreamthedream/pseuds/i_dreamthedream
Summary: John Laurens was sure he didn't believe in fate but then Alexander Hamilton pushed the door of his flower shop





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [NineTalestoTell](https://archiveofourown.org/users/NineTalestoTell/gifts).



> My prompt was "John runs a flower shop. Alex, for whatever reason, keeps coming in asking for a 'sorry I fucked up again' bouquet, or something of the like. John gets curious about Alex. Fluffy Lams ensues." 
> 
> I changed it a little bit and I then the election happened so this turned out more angsty than expected... Hopefully it's still works :D

The laws of the universe are best described as a wobbly-timey stuff to which logic is a non-relevant factor. That is the only thing to be sure of. There is no such things as fate, fate is an absurd concept invented by charlatans in the early years of Western civilization to help humans cope with the helplessness they feel about life.

John didn’t believe in fate either because he believed in free will. That was what he thought on that bright Tuesday morning of September while he was behind the counter of his flower shop. He would change his mind about thirteen minutes later.

For the time being, John was idly organizing the new cards he had received the day before. From the radio David Bowie could be heard and he was singing along to _Space Oddity_ softy. Once the cards were neatly placed on the rail, he scanned the place. He was proud of that place. That place had been his salvation. When his Dad cut him out, he had splurged the rest of the money of his mother’s heritage into this place. Getting his license hadn’t been easy and had required more effort than he thought. Yet he’d do again in a heartbeat.

With this flower shop he had gained his independence, financial stability – although it was nothing compared to his former trust fund – and friends in the odd duo that was running the tailoring shop next door. Never would he have pegged the muscular man that was Hercules Mulligan for a tailor. He seemed more fitted to be a bodyguard or a cop. He and his best friend – or maybe boyfriend? John hadn’t quite figured that out but then again he wasn’t sure they had – had become permanent features in his life three weeks into opening. The two were great drinking buddies even though Herc having a surprisingly low alcohol tolerance giving his weight and Lafayette always told the best stories. John was happy with his life even with Maria who kept trying to set him up on blind dates. It really wasn’t his thing though… John was a stupid romantic at heart. And to be honest, Maria’s friends really weren’t his type.

The bell rang at exactly forty-two minutes after nine and John looked up to see the most gorgeous man ever walking into the room. He probably wasn’t objectively the most attractive person on Earth, some distant part of his brain thought. There was something about him thought. Maybe it was the way he moved with just enough confidence and determination to make _walking_ sexy. Maybe it was his suit was curving around his very nice body that had John’s imagination working on dirty scenarios pretty fast. Maybe it was the way his dark eyes were burning with passion and the way they softened just a little when they settled on John that made him wanna propose to the guy right there and then.

Sensing that it might be slightly too forward for a conversation starter, John decided to go for something a bit more professional.

“Good morning, welcome to _The Green room._ How can I help you?”

“Hi,” the guy said with a smile that had John almost melting. “I need a bouquet of flowers with a specific meaning.”

“Sure,” John said. He could do that in his sleep, flower meaning was what got him into buying the business in the first place. “What do you want it to say?”

“Something along the lines of _‘I’m crushing you at the next trivia night?’”_

John blinked. Once, twice but he was pretty sure he had heard it right. The smirk on the guy’s face was all the confirmation he needed. (And he needed to stop doing that if he wanted John to make that bouquet without embarrassing himself.)

“Okay,” John answered and got to work.

He picked up a few hollyhocks for ambition, rues for disdain and St John’s worts for animosity. He assembled them so that they looked nice even though the thing basically meant _fuck you_ in flowers. While he was working, the stranger couldn’t seem to hold still. He kept glancing around, fidgeting and clicking his tongue.

John explained the symbolism of each flowers once he was done and the guy grinned.

“That’s perfect, thank you so much!”

He paid the 16,75 dollars for the bouquet and disappeared before John had the time to register it. He sighed, a little defeated. The guy was cute but he couldn’t get so flustered after a client he would probably never see again, no matter how cute they were. He took a deep breath and put the piercing eyes in the back of his mind. And if they kept popping into his brain at random times during the next few days, nobody had to know.

He thought he would never see him again. Which was why he was quite surprised when a week later, the same guy entered the shop. John’s jaw almost dropped but he came back to his senses quickly enough to cover it with a yawn. Hopefully.

This time, he wanted a bouquet that said _‘you will never be satisfied’_ that John, a bit dumbstruck, provided.

It became sort of a routine. The guy would come in every Tuesday a little before ten and order a bouquet that stood for a snarky comment. He came up with a new one every week and John had to admit he was impress by the guy’s wit because some of them were pretty inventive. It was never an insult… No it was just… petty. He always seemed delighted when John explained the meaning for each flower and his little giggles were haunting John’s dreams ever since.

On the third Tuesday of October, the guy asked for an _‘I hope you eat so many candies you get sick for Halloween’_ and John couldn’t help himself: “Seriously dude?”

 _Damn!_ He thought. Why did he have to open his mouth? He always made a point of not judging his clients and when he couldn’t, he always kept his opinion to himself. Like when that guy had asked for roses for his wife _and_ his mistress on last Valentines Day. Now the guy would probably not come back and John was mortified at the prospect for reasons he’d rather not get into at the moment.

But instead of being put off, the guy just smiled harder.

“You know, I’m impressed _that’s_ what made you react!” He grinned.

John shrugged sheepishly and felt his cheeks burn.

“Well, I’m concerned about that poor soul getting diabetes,” he managed to say to salvage his dignity.

The guy chuckled.

“Well John, rest in peace. I’m pretty sure she won’t.”

“How do you know my name?”

The guy gestured to his chest and right, he was wearing a nametag. He blushed harder and distracted himself by collecting the flowers he needed to make the bouquet. The guy followed him into the small alleys and said: “I’m Alexander, by the way.”

 _Alexander._ John liked the name, it suited him. They went back to the counter and John got to work. While he was arranging the bouquet, he decided to be brave and ask the question that had been bugging him for weeks.

“So Alexander, will you tell me who I have make all those nice bouquets for?”

“I’m glad you asked,” Alexander replied gleefully. “See I lost this bet with one of my coworker and now I’m supposed to bring her flowers every week till New Year’s. But since I’m a little shit and that nothing in the bet said I couldn’t, I decided I would tell her to shove it in flower once a week!”

John hadn’t imagined anything like that but the whole was just ridiculous and brilliant enough to be hilarious. The two laughed while he finished. Alexander paid for the flowers and left with an enthusiastic _“See you next week John!”_ to which John could only reply _“See you soon Alexander,”_ helpless.

°

Alexander wasn’t sure if he wanted to hug or curse Angelica Schuyler for that damn bet. On the one hand there was the fact that he had… y’know… _lose,_ so there was that… _._ (Though he still maintained that he got the lyrics of that song right, it was just the off-Broadway version and nobody had said that didn’t count, so technically he didn’t lose thank you very much!) On the other hand if it weren’t for that stupid bet, he probably never would have set foot into that very cute flower shop and he never would have met its incredibly cuter florist. So there was _that_.

He and John had become sort of friends over the last weeks since he explained the bet. They would talk while John was making the bouquets, which were always very elegant despite of the messages they were carrying. John would let him ramble about his work, his friends and even politics. He never interrupted him or asked him to shut up. On the contrary he listened intently and always offered something snarky and relevant.

Alex was no doctor but he had recognized the symptoms pretty easily. He had a crush on the hot florist with freckles.

Now normally when he had a crush, Alex would act on it. Before anything else, he was a man of words and a man of actions. But something seemed to be holding him back this time. There was something about John that was different. He wasn’t sure why but the idea that he could have John but for them to just crash and burn was unbearable. His weekly visit would have to be enough for now.

Those had started to get longer. Alexander would arrive before nine thirty and more than once, he had to rush out in order to be at the office at ten. He was even late once, which hadn’t happened in the two years he’d worked for Washington.

That had been a big mistake on his part because his coworkers had started to get suspicious. More precisely _Angelica_ had become suspicious and Alex knew that if she started pocking around, he was screwed.

That week when he delivered the flowers in her office, she raised her eyebrows at him.

“You look cheerful this morning,” she remarked.

“It’s a nice morning,” he replied innocently.

“Hamilton,” she said in a tone that could only mean he was in trouble. “What is going on with you?”

“Nothing!” Alex answered hastily. Rookie mistake, now she was sure something was up.

“He has a crush on the guy from the flower shop,” came Burr’s usual monotone voice from behind him. The guy was leaning against the doorframe with case files in his hands.

“ _What?!”_ Alexander shrieked. “How could you possibly know that?” Alex was too shocked to even deny it.

“You should see the way you look at those flowers on her office when you walk passed them,” Burr shrugged. “And you’ve started talking about him also. You’ve been all, _John said this_ or _John told me that…_ It’s kind of obvious really. Angelica these are all you need for the Levi Weeks case,” he added. He dropped the files next to the flowers and exited.

Alex was gaping at him and Angelica looked like Christmas had come early.

“Alexander. Spill. Now!”

It was like opening a floodgate.

“Oh my God Angie you have no idea! He’s so _cute!_ He has _freckles_ all over his face for fuck’s sake! And he’s funny too! Like I was telling him that story about Jefferson and he said that joke about mac’n cheese and I laughed for two minutes straight? And I mean me being awkward was only like, thirty percent responsible? Oh and he’s very good with flower meaning too? Like I know he’s a florist and that’s his job but he has been coming up with ideas for my insult bouquets that are…”

“ _Excuse me?_ ” Angelica interrupted him. “Have you been giving me shitty bouquets this whole time?”

“No,” Alexander replied petulantly. “I have been giving you visually appealing bouquets, which happened to have a bit insulting signification!”

“Seriously Hamilton?”

“What?” he shrugged. “You said I had to buy you flowers every week, you didn’t say they couldn’t have shitty meaning! Plus it’s been like, the highlights of my weeks so…”

“The highlight of your weeks had been to give me those bouquets? Or to see the man who was making them?” Angelica smirked.

“Shut up!” Alex pouted.

“Well we’ll discuss the bouquets later,” she said dismissively. “So you’ve been seeing that guy once a week for two months and you two had fun laughing at my expense and you happen to like him.”

Alexander wanted to protest but since it was true, he kept his mouth shut.

“Which brings me to the main point, why haven’t you ask him out yet?”

Alexander groaned and let himself fall into the chair on the other side of her desk.

“I don’t know Angie,” he admitted. “It just… feels different this time. I’m kinda scared to screw this up…”

And how could he not be? He never had a serious relationship in his life. The most he knew about them was the one of his boss and his wife and the one from his college roommate/part time enemy!

And then again, George and Martha Washington had been together since high school, had never been with anyone but each other and were still happily married and raising way too many dogs. As for Aaron, he had fell in love with a very married girl he’d met on campus and had nearly been beaten to death by said girl's husband when he found out.

Neither of them was relevant in his case (John wasn’t married, he had checked his fingers weeks before.)

So yeah, relationships were hard for him. He was way out of his depths here.

“You’re ridiculous,” she rolled her eyes. She put the bouquet on the usual vase on the desk and turned toward him again. “Now back to how you’ve been insulting me with flowers for weeks!” She said with a stern voice.

Alexander chuckled; this was more familiar ground.

°

November 8th was a Tuesday. John had decided to offer a flower for anyone who came into the shop with an _‘I voted’_ sticker. Alexander arrived a bit later than usual, grinning and displaying his Clinton badge proudly. He tucked the daisy John gave him in recompense for his civic duty in his ponytail. The sight had John nearly melting on spot. He handed him his bouquet – ‘ _we’re nailing this election but you still suck!’_ – and Alex hopped outside happily. John smiled. This day would be good.

The next day, John woke up after only three hours of a restless sleep and the sensation of being hangover despite the fact that he hadn’t drank a drop of alcohol. He had a feeling that it would linger for the next four years. _Well fuck!_

The day passed in a haze with very few people coming in. Everything felt grey, dull. Around four, John was seriously considering the idea of closing early and getting wasted, possibly getting in a fight with Trump supporters when Alexander walked into the shop.

He had bags under his eyes that were even bigger than John’s. The usual fire in his irises seemed do have turned into dying embers. His whole body was moving slowly as if he was wearing a heavy weight on his shoulders. It was like he was suddenly fifty years older.

“I threw a tantrum about the results at work and my boss sent me home,” he said tiredly. “Part of me want to keep ranting but I mostly am just so tired…”

John nodded.

They were both leaning on either side of the counter with matching, resigned expression on their faces.

“I think I lost faith in humanity,” John admitted. For months, he had helped organize protests, rallies to get the people to understand the stakes, to explain why voting a third party candidate was dangerous and just to _vote!_ And all that for nothing. Not only did the other side win but he was also genuinely scared for his life and his friends’.

“Don’t say that,” Alexander replied softly. Gently, he took John’s hand in his own. John let him. He hadn’t realized just how much he wanted a hug until then. He was touch-starved and he knew it. Alexander’s hand was colder than his but it still sent warmth in John’s stomach.

“There is good in this world John Laurens. And it’s worth fighting for.”

“Did you just quote _Lord of the ring_ to me?” John asked, incredulous.

Alex shrugged innocently and for a second his features relaxed and he looked younger. John smiled genuinely for the first time since the official results. He squeezed the other man’s hand and chose to not overanalyze the giddy feeling in his whole body when Alex squeezed back.

“Well,” he said. “I was about to close early, wanna grab coffee, eat ice cream and pretend the last twenty-four hours were just a nightmare?”

Alex beamed and nodded frenetically. He looked only a little disappointed when John had to let go his hand. It took only ten minutes for John get his stuff and close everything that needed to be closed.

“Lead the way!” Alex said and the two of them went side by side on the cold New York streets.

°

John spent Thanksgiving at Hercules’ with Lafayette for the third year in a row. It made sense since neither could come home – John because his father was an asshole, Lafayette because plane tickets to France weren’t cheap and Herc because he didn’t have any. It hardly mattered to them though, because they loved spending Thanksgiving together. Hercules and John could make a decent enough turkey, Lafayette brought the wine and they would sit on the couch watching some stupid show on TV. If you asked John, it was something to be grateful for more than any Thanksgiving in Charleston since his Mom passed. This year, he was particularly grateful for those two. Laf was still a prick, Herc needed to stop punching everything that moved and the two might be pretty oblivious about their feelings for each other but damn if John didn’t love them with all he had. He had long ago made peace with the fact that his blood relatives were shitty. He was glad his non blood-related family was that awesome.

This year they were watching a _Parks and Recs_ marathon on Netflix when Laf decided to ruin the Holiday spirit.

“So John have you finally ask out the cute guy who’s been coming to the shop?”

John turned bright red.

“I have no idea of what you’re talking about,” he mumbled.

“Aw, look Herc! Our little Johnny has a crush,” Lafayette crooned.

“Fuck off!”

“Oh this sounds good,” Hercules stepped in. “Here,” he shoved a Sam Adams into his hands. “Talk!”

“There’s nothing to say,” John answered firmly. “The guy’s been coming since September and each time he asks for a ‘fuck you’ bouquet. That’s all!”

“A ‘fuck you’ bouquet?” Laf repeated.

“He lost a bet to a coworker so he decided to outsmart her,” John shrugged. “Point is, nothing’s gonna happen!”

“Why not?” Hercules asked. “You’re two single, healthy and attractive adults from what I gathered… What’s the harm in that?”

“Well first of all, you don’t know him so you’re just making assumptions about his health and attractiveness…”

“That’s what condoms are for and you already find him good-looking,” Laf threw in unnecessarily.

“Second of all,” John ignored the interruption, “I have no idea if the guy’s single or not and thirdly even if he is, that doesn’t mean he’s interested in men in general or in me in particular!”

“John, come _on!”_ Laf pouted. “Can’t you tell when they’re looking?”

“Can _you?_ ” John shot back.

“Usually,” Lafayette answered quietly and John didn’t miss the way his eyes briefly drifted to Herc. God this needed to be addressed too. And like soon because John was getting really tired of their obliviousness.

He finished his beer and redirected his attention toward the screen. Yeah, he kinda wanted to see Alexander outside of his shop, when he wouldn’t be wearing his work clothes and Alex didn’t have to go to his office. But John for all his braveness – and sometimes stupidity – to run toward danger without a second thought couldn’t bring himself to do that one simple thing.

In Pawnee, Ben and Leslie were being supportive of each other and were cute doing it. John felt something tingle in his chest, the same kind of longing he felt when he saw Alexander but that was alright. He had gotten pretty good at ignoring it.

°

Something had changed in the dynamic of their relationship from that day after the election. Alex could feel it. They ended up at Union Square for the protest after getting a coffee. They exchanged phone numbers and were now texting each other almost every day. Texting John was therapeutic for Alex because no matter the hour or the length of his rant, John never said he was busy, never said it was a bad time. He always responded. It was like he was waiting for Alex to pour his heart and soul to him, like he was made to receive it and care for it. When he realized what he was thinking, Alex blamed it all on the lack of sleep of the last month.

A couple of days after Thanksgiving he was working late hour at the office again on a particularly thorny case. He was valiantly ignoring the way his vision was getting more and more blurry by the minute. _Just a few minutes and then I’ll come home,_ Alex thought distantly for the twentieth time in the last three hours. His hands were shaking though it was undetermined if it was because he needed more caffeine to stay awake or because he had too much already in his system.

He jumped when someone cleared their throat behind him.

“What do you want Burr?” he asked tiredly when he realized it was just his colleague.

“I’m taking you home,” Burr replied. It wasn’t a question. It didn’t even sound like a command. Burr’s tone was as calm and detached as ever. Alexander sighed. They had had that same conversation countless times in college in the days leading to finals when he wouldn’t leave the library because he needed to study. Aaron had to physically dragged him out once. Well that was a slight exaggeration since Alex had nearly passed out of exhaustion after two steps out of the building. Burr still carried him back to their dorm and tucked him in. Alex was still embarrassed to this day.

He also knew Burr would do it again and would have no second thoughts to call Angelica if Alex was being ‘difficult’. No point in resisting then. Hamilton sighed. He closed his laptop and put it in his briefcase before following Burr in the elevator.

Silence wasn’t a rare thing between them and though at times it could be tense, right then it was just confortable. In Burr’s car, Alex looked at the city through the window. He loved New York at night. That hadn’t changed and he breathed out what might have been a relieved sigh. So many things seemed to be uncertain now that he took comfort in the smallest things. The Manhattan skyline, the smell of _café con leche_ in the bodega on his way to work, the way John smiled when he said his silly order for a bouquet… _John…_

The other man seemed to be constantly on Alexander’s mind. Not always actively yet always there, lingering. He had no idea of what to do with the fact that he _liked_ John. Like really. His initial crush based on physical attraction and shameless flirting had grown into something bigger and way more terrifying. And it kept growing with every text, every joke and every smile. It wasn’t like anything Alex had ever experienced before.

“You once told me that we get what we want if we’re willing to wait for it,” he said apropos of nothing.

“I remember,” Aaron answered. “You told me it was bullshit.”

“I still think that!” Aaron shook his head, but he seemed more fond than exasperated. “But with Theo you didn’t wait,” Alex continued. “You went for it even though she was married and you ended up with a broken nose!”

“I know that,” Aaron replied. “What is this about Alex?”

Burr rarely called him by his nickname. Most of the times it was ‘Alexander’ and ‘Hamilton’ when he was pissed off. He called him ‘Alex’ when he was worried though, like during a bad storm. Alex had always found it strange the way Aaron would worry about him. Then again, their relationship _was_ a bit unconventional to say the least.

“I don’t know,” he replied. “I was just thinking…”

“If you were thinking about the cute florist Alexander, I think you should go for it.”

Alex stared at him with wild eyes, “You know I’m still not sure that you’re not a robot who can read minds!”

Burr chuckled. “I think you just hate the fact that I know you,” he said.

“That too,” Alex admitted without any venin in his voice. “You mean it?”

“You deserve someone that makes you happy Alexander,” Aaron said patiently. “That guy does, judging by the way you look when you come into the office every Tuesday with your stupid bouquet.” He paused for a moment and added, “and you need someone to drag you out of the office that isn’t me!”

“What that teasing Burr?” Alex fake-gasped. “I thought you’d never learn!”

They continued to banter until they reached Alexander’s building. Before going out of the car, he turned toward his friend to say “Thank you Aaron.”

“Good night Alex.”

°

John went way over the top for Christmas. He literally covered every available surface in the shop by fake snow, there were tinsels decorating the flowerpots and he had dug back his Christmas compilation. The whole store looked like a Pinterest album. John knew it was a bit much but he figured the holiday spirit was needed at that moment more than ever. He didn’t wanna think of what would happen come January.

It was Wednesday December 21st. The day before Alexander had come for his last bouquet – _‘you’re not so bad and thank you for inviting me to spend the holidays with you and your sisters’_ – since it was almost New Year’s and John was closing from the 23rd until the 4th of January. He had said nothing about the fact that Alexander wouldn’t be coming regularly after that. He was pretty sure they wouldn’t stop texting – he didn’t imagine Alexander running out of things to say – but it wouldn’t be the same. John had become accustomed to the lawyer’s weekly visit. The idea of those stopping was a terrifying prospect that he was unsuccessfully trying to dismiss.

Closing time was approaching and it was already pretty dark outside. John shuddered, for all his love for winter he still missed the sunlight. Alexander walked in, almost disappearing inside the pile of warm clothes he had put on. He said to John that one of the only things he missed of the island in the Caribbean was the warmer winter weather. He looked like a kitten with his beanie and scarf and gloves. A very cute tropical kitten. Damn John had it bad!

“Hey,” he said a little lamely. “Did you manage to lose another bet with Angelica?”

Alex chuckled and shook his head. He took off his first layer of clothing (beanie, gloves, scarf and coat) and deposited them on the counter. John forbade his brain to think about removing the rest of it.

“No actually,” Alex hesitated. “I was wondering what flower would be appropriate to show someone your devotion?”

John’s stomach dropped and landed somewhere around his ankles. Alex had met someone? He hadn’t said anything about dating as far as John remembered – and he would have remembered _that_ for sure! Oh well, it was not like he ought to tell John anyways. And it was not like John stood a chance with him in the first place. The guy was a genius, way out of John’s league.

“Uh?” John said before getting a grip on himself. “Oh, well lemme see…” He could go for a sunflower but in the middle of December, that was probably not a good idea. In the end, he chose a single magenta zinnia. “It’s for lasting affection,” he murmured over _White Christmas._ Alexander nodded.

He had moved from next to the counter to the middle of the shop and was now uncomfortably shifting from one foot to the other. Still when he met his eyes, John was once again taken aback by the fire inside of them. It wasn’t surprising that someone else had noticed them and fell for them. Who ever they were, John hoped they were good to Alex because the guy deserved nothing but the best in life.

Alex gestured awkwardly for John to come and give him the flower. John crossed the distance between them slowly.

Alexander’s hand lingered for a few seconds when he took it. John’s skin was burning from the contact and if Alex kept looking at him through his eyelashes like that, John was about to do something very stupid.

“It’s beautiful John,” Alex whispered. “I think mistletoe would have worked too?” he added, looking up. John’s eyes followed the movement and he stopped breathing. How he’d forgot about the mistletoe when he’d been the one who hanged it there in the first place? Well Alex’s eyes were probably to blame for that.

They looked down at the same time and damn were they that close this whole time? John wasn’t sure. He felt more than anything else Alex reaching for his hand again to place the flower back in it.

“Keep that for me John will you?” he breathed.

And then they were kissing. Alexander’s lips were on his, so soft and so gentle. It was better than every single one fantasy that John had over the last three months. He could never have imagined the feeling of Alex’s hands on his body, one lost in his hair and the other firmly curled around his hip, pressing them close together. John kissed him back with everything he had. It was incredible to finally give in to those feelings he’d been fighting for so long. He focused on the sensation of Alexander in his arms, fitting there like there was no other place in the world he belonged.

And actually there was no other place in the world where Alex wanted to be.

°

On the 5th of January Alex entered happily into the _Green Room_ despite the ungodly temperatures. The bell rang above his head, making John look up.

 _God he is so cute!_ Alex thought, not unlike the first time he entered the shop.

“Hey,” said John with a shy smile.

“Hi,” Alex replied. “So I might have made another bet with Angelica…”

“Looking for excuses to come to the shop again?” John smirked.

“Well actually…” Alex started, amused. “She dared me to ask the cute florist out on a date because she thinks I’ll be a chicken…”

“Does she now?” John’s voice dropped imperceptibly.

“Hum… So what do you say boyfriend?” Alex grinned, using _that_ word made him feel giddy. “Wanna come over to my place tonight and make out on my couch?”

John pretended to think about it for a second before tugging at Alex’s tie and pulled him into a kiss. He opened his mouth slightly, teasing the other man’s lips with his tongue in a way he knew drove Alex crazy. He pulled back leaving Alex panting.

“With pleasure,” he replied smugly. Alex was watching him with dark, hungry eyes.

“Tease,” he hissed.

“You love it!”

Alex had to bit back an _‘I love you’_ , he may be new to the whole relationship thing but he was pretty sure it was too soon for that. Well they had nothing but time. They’d cross that bridge eventually. He should be freaking out by the mere thought but he was actually more concerned with the fact that tonight was a long time away. He claimed John’s lips one last time before he left, they mouths moving together, slow and tender.

“Can’t wait,” he murmured before leaving regretfully.

 

For the next month, Alex came in the shop every morning with two cups of delicious _café con leche,_ courtesy of Angelica Schuyler.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope all of you are safe and loved <3


End file.
